The four barreled FireStorm holds 24 40mm grenades.

[ Many thanks to Daniel Watters for emailing me the vid. ]

Many thanks, again, to Lusaka for the photo and info.

The DEFCOM XL 79 COMPOSITE is essentially a M79 that has been brought into the 21st century. It weighs 1.41 kg, about half of the original metal-and-wood M79.

DEFCOM XL 79 COMPOSITE

The Defcom M79 type product improved grenade launcher receiver, barrel shroud, stock, and front hand guard are manufactured from composite materials. Double action trigger with shotgun-type safety. Matte finish colors: black, desert sand, or woodland green. Top of barrel fitted with MIL_STD 1913 Picatinny rail system. Rear sight is a detachable flip-up scale graduated to 425 meters. Front sight is fixed. Fixed stock launcher has two (2) sling swivels, folding stock has a third swivel mounted on stock hinge. Ambidextrous safety and barrel latch. M16 style pistol grip.

The other Defcom product is the XL 200 under barrel rail mounted launcher. It weights about 40% less than the M203 and M320 launchers.

XL 200

XL 200 with American Defense locking latches. instant on / instant off. The launcher drops free when the latches are opened.

The XL 200 opens by moving forward, and then tips up at a 40 degree angle, which allows it to be loaded with the new larger low velocity less lethal ammunition.

The Defcom 40 mm grenade launcher is designed to mount to any Mil Spec 1913 Picatinny Rail system. It has a double action trigger with ambidextrous safety and barrel latch. Barrel tilts downward and locks at end of forward travel to permit loading of all low velocity 40 mm ammunition. Titanium breech face. Trigger mechanism is modular and can be easily repaired in field. Barrel meets U.S. military specifications for material and rifling.

XL 200 mounted on the XL-220 standalone mount.

I will be watching this new company with interest to see how their products do.

The Defcom website is not yet up, but the sales office can be contacted at 559.585.1712

The MetalStorm technology allows multiple rounds to be loaded into, and fired from, a single barrel. This makes a much more compact weapon than competing MGL² systems such as the Milkor. The weapon has been designed to be within the same tolerances as the M203/M320 and so achieves similar range, velocity & accuracy. It makes use of standard 40x46mm grenade warheads which are inserted into the MetalStorm 'tail assembly'. This would make the system much more attractive to nations which currently use the standard 40x46mm rounds.

The grenades are fired electronically as fast as the trigger can be pull and the barrel is capable of 720 rounds per minute! I asked Mark, MetalStorm's armorer, about battery life and he told me that the 2xAA batteries is uses will last as long as the barrel does.

What really impressed me was how fast it could be reloaded. In the video you see the operator remove the rifle's magazine when reloading - this was for safety and it not required in the field.

In its stand-alone configuration (not attached to a rifle and with its own stock) it weighs 5 lbs - less than half the weight of the 11 lb Milkor MGL!

Milkor MGL / M32

MetalStorm have also been working on a bullpup version of the 3GL. Aside from the shorter overall length, it allows the system to be used with rifles, such as the AK variants, which require the magazines to be rocked into place. The pistol grip of the non-bullpup version would get in the way during magazine changes,

3GL Bullpup. It is tiny!

As I said before, I am very impressed with this weapon. It offers a lot of power in a very small package.

Many thanks to David for answering my questions and providing photos and videos for the blog.

It appears to work by striking the firing pin (a drill bit) with a stone. I would not want to be within 200 yards of somebody firing that weapon.

Russian VOG-25 40mm Grenade. Photo from gunbroker.

UPDATE: DrStrangegun noticed that the size of the launcher is very simular to Russian GP-30 launcher. The Grenade is propelled through the vents you see in the above photo. Much like a rocket.

GP-30. From Wikipedia.

Hat Tip: MP.net

Click to expand.

The AGS-17 Plamya, the auto grenade launcher currently fielded by Russia, is 30mm. The new launcher extends the effective range from 1700m to 2500m and the larger round will of course give it more bite.

It is logical to compare it with the 40mm Mk 19 Automatic Grenade Launcher. The weight and rate of fire are much the same. The Balkan comes standard with optical sights and the Mk 19 can be fitted with sights if needed.

The ammunition is quite different. The Balkan uses Russian style 40mm grenades that are in a sense caseless. The primer ignites powder, the gas then exists through vents in the bottom of the case. This is similar to the infamous Gyrojet ammunition. Unlike the Gyrojet I think all the grenade powder is burnt before the round leaves the barrel, unlike the Gyrojet which burnt the propellant slowly and accelerated slowly.

The vents appear to have a shotgun-like star shaped crimp.

Another difference is that the ammunition box holds 20 linked rounds and weights 14 kg while the Mk 19 uses 32 or 48 round boxes weighing 20 and 30 kg respectively.

Hat Tip: diva @ WAFF

The Army plans to begin fielding the first of 71,600 new replacement launchers in February for a cost of about $3,500 each, Audette said. Fielding of the M320 will likely be completed by 2015, Audette said.

..

Each M320 will come with a laser range finder and a sophisticated sight that even lets soldiers know if they aren’t holding the launcher right.

M320 with stock and laser range finder sighting system.

The unit weights 3.57 – 3.89 lbs depending on what rifle it is being mounted on.The stock pictured above adds an extra lb bringing the weight up to 4.8 lbs.

Benefits over the M230 are:

- The barrel swings out allowing larger rounds than the M203. Useful for less than lethal rounds.

- Laser range finder and new electronic sight system which also indicates if the launcher is being held incorrectly.

- Double action trigger

M320 mounted under M4.

The POF Eye was purportedly developed in only 6 months by Pakistan Ordnance Factories (POF).

Click to expand. Photos from Defence.pk.

According to Wikipedia, there will be three variants: pistol, submachine gun and grenade launcher.

While I have always been skeptical about the usefulness of the Corner Shot concept I think a grenade launcher could be very useful, especially in police-type situations using non-lethal ammunition.

The original Corner Shot also has a 40mm grenade option as well as an “Assault Pistol” (5.56mm M16 pistol) configuration.

Pakistan joins Iran, who early this year announced a clone, and China whose clone is called the HD66 (scroll down link for photo).

Thanks to Shoaib for letting me know about the POF Eye.

It looks like Poland is developing their own version of the XM29 OICW concept, according to the MSPO 2008 website. It may or may not be called the “Neon”, Google translate is not great at best of times.

What makes the Polish concept unique is that the grenade launcher part of the weapon will, at this stage in the design, be able to be removed and swapped for a different caliber, either 40mm or 25mm.

I am going to predict that they will end up with one caliber and not bother with the complexity and cost of multiple calibers.

It has the usual fire control system to program air burst grenades to detonate at a certain distance.

I will be watching with interest to see what happens with this program. Sweden and Singapore are also developing similar weapons and South Korea will be fielding the XK11 Korean New Rifle in 2010.

XK11 Korean New Rifle

More information here (translated with google)

I have done my best to find accurate information about this firearm on the Polish MSPO 2008 website. I do not speak or read Polish so I had to rely on Google Translate. If I got something wrong, please correct me in the comments.

The president of the republic of Georgia declared a state of emergency Wednesday night, after riot police officers used tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannon to clear thousands of demonstrators from the streets.

Check out these ‘riot police officers’:

If the photo didn’t come from the NY Times I would have thought it was a photoshop. I have seen movies portraying aliens who look less ‘alien’ than these guys!

The camo, armor and 40mm / 37mm multi-launcher in combination with the weird mask makes for a chilling effect.

More here.